Regeneration of Distressed Areas of the Central District of Ahvaz City via the Sustainable Development Approach

Central city districts and their old roots in history have high potentials in terms of their geographical centrality, easy accessibility, as well as historical and cultural characteristics. Despite their positive characteristics, those districts suffer from physical problems (e.g., urban distressed fabrics), environmental issues, poor infrastructures, etc. Ahvaz is one of those cities with these characteristics whose urban fabric is distressed and needs strategic plans and executions. The aim is to direct the central district of Ahvaz towards sustainability with strategies and plans based on the sustainable development approach and using systematic vision models. Thus, the issue of regeneration of distressed areas is very significant in this regard. The research used the random sampling method to select the participants. The research analysis was conducted using Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat, Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix, Oregon Model and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) model approaches. The study is an applied, descriptive-correlational research. The data were collected via the library research and field study techniques. After analyzing and investigating the data comprehensively, the research offered executive strategies for the success of sustainable development of the study area. The most important strategies obtained from the analysis are constructing green spaces such as green belts in the riverbank of the Karun River, improving the state of paths leading to historical monuments to the tourists’ access, and beautifying walls of buildings near the riverbank.